We have to reimagine the education system for Māori

What educational success might look like for Māori is the focus of a new book by Dr Maia Hetaraka from Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland.

Hetaraka (Ngāti Wai, Ngāi Tahu, Ngā Puhi), an educator who specialises in Māori and Indigenous knowledge, believes a completely new mindset is  needed.

"This sits in stark contrast to current political narratives that seek to whitewash education and assume that ethnicity and culture has no bearing on academic success for students," she says.

As key research for her book, Te kauae tuku iho | Inheriting the sacred jawbone: Indigenous knowledge holders re-imagine education, she consulted a group of kāhui kaumātua (knowledgeable elders) who identified three key areas they believe need immediate transformation: systemic, relational and knowledge related.

“With the current political regression in this country to a mono-lingual, mono-cultural identity and way of thinking about education, and the rapid pouring of taxpayer money into this ideology, incorporating the wisdom of Indigenous elders into educational conversations is as pertinent now as it’s ever been," says Hetaraka.

She says the kaumātua she interviewed believe the need for a reimagined education system stems from the Crown positioning itself as the keeper of the current system.

“Transforming it, therefore, would involve repositioning mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) as a robust and valid knowledge system, shifting the way education professionals think and changing the heart and mind of the system.”

She believes for this to happen, there would need to be a seismic shift from the Crown’s control of all systems to those underpinned by the kaupapa (policy) of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“This would encompass manaākitanga, shared responsibility and rights of both rangatiratanga (sovereignty) and kawanatanga (governance).”

She says an education system grounded in the kaupapa of Te Tiriti is fundamentally different to the ‘principles’ of Te Tiriti, “a position that continues to lock thinking into restrictive interpretations and imagined intentions”.

Well established educational research also highlights the positive impact of effective relationships on student achievement, she says.

“Educational relationships are complex generally, and for Māori are underscored by deep mistrust, caused by the historical and ongoing trauma of educators and institutions that failed to keep them safe, as well as the mistreatment and (mis)appropriation of mātauranga and tikanga Māori.”

To heal these wounds, she says, kaumātua believe Māori cultural knowledge should remain under the control and protection of the Māori communities initiated to care for it.

“The Crown must share in decision-making, trust Māori expertise and that Māori know how to begin healing our culture,” says Hetaraka.

Those she interviewed, who include highly respected kaumatua with diverse expertise like Janet and Te Warihi Hetaraka, Hori Parata and Te Aupouri Whautere, believe rebuilding trust will create the foundation for genuine, mutually beneficial relationships that involve collaboration and respect.

“Kaumātua believe it will take a concerted effort by everybody, not just by Māori, to transform these damaged relationships, not only in education, but in society in generally.”

The book also examines what it means for educators to be ‘culturally competent’.

“There is now no expectation that mātauranga Māori be utilised in the New Zealand curriculum beyond ‘prior knowledge’ type activities. This suggests that Tātaiako (a document created to culturally guide teachers of Māori learners) is a mechanism to modify teacher behaviours, with no critical investigation or modification of what counts as knowledge,” she says.

In this way, Western knowledge maintains its position of dominance in New Zealand education while positioning mātauranga in complex and problematic ways, she believes.

For example, according to the New Zealand education system’s own rules, for teachers to be deemed ‘culturally competent’ they must know about the culture, says Hetaraka.

“However, Māori culture is based on Māori knowledge and language, so how can educators profess to be culturally competent without mātauranga Māori. And even if they were, is it their automatic right to teach it?”

As a guide to a radically different path, kaumātua in the book suggest a shift from using ‘cultural competence’ to monitor and assess educators, to cultural education that creates understanding and respect between people.

“Kaumātua want to encourage teachers to gain expertise in their own cultural backgrounds to provide grounding and confidence so they can relate to students of other cultures,” says Hetaraka.

“They believe educators who want Māori to be successful as Māori, need to build confidence in Māori students as learners, and a way to do this is for those teachers to know and love themselves, and develop a deep understanding of how their wairua (spirit) impacts on the wairua of their students.

“Validating and valuing knowledge from diverse sources will start healing the loss of identity, deeply transform knowledge and begin to restore what both Māori and Pākehā have experienced through colonisation,” she says.

Te kauae tuku iho | Inheriting the sacred jawbone: Indigenous knowledge holders re-imagine education is published by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research Press (2024).